They are secretive, opaque and often hugely wealthy. But unlike sovereign wealth funds, the Gulf’s family-owned businesses rarely make the headlines.
Their aversion to publicity is unsurprising. After half a decade of breakneck regional growth, the patriarchs of the large merchant families from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are among the richest individuals in the world.
Many family groups started out as pearl traders, shopkeepers or merchants, and most remain true to their roots, preferring tangible, traditional industries such as manufacturing, construction and retailing to financial services or technology sectors, according to bankers and experts.
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